Depressible beam headlight



April 12, 1932.

\ s. F. ARBUCKLE DEPRESSIBLE BEAM HEADLIGHT Filed Aug. 1. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR j/i/YflEL F AREl/CKLE ATTORNEY April 1932- s. F. ARBUCKLE 1,853,533

DEPRESSIBLE BEAM HEADLIGHT Filed Aug. 1. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 510/042 fi' ARaucxM-I ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAMUEL F.'.ARBUCKLE, F HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR 1'0 MONOGRAM LEN SCORPORATION OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE DEPRESSIBLE BEAM HEADLIGHT Application filed August 1, 1927. Serial No. 209,721.

This invention relates to headlamps and particularly that type of headlamp which isadapted to project at different times two separate beams of light, one for fast driving, and

5 the other for driving in trafiic where it is desirable to prevent glare of the headlights in the eyes of drivers of approaching automobiles.

One of the objects of the invention is to pro- .10 vide a headlight having a brilliant beam which may be projected far down the road for fast driving and another beam which may be projected toward the side of the road for driving in traflic or for passing another car.

Another object of the invention is to provide a headlight which will project a substantially white beam down the road for fast driving, and which will project another beam toned down by a color downwardly at a point nearer the car for driving in traflic.

Another object of the invention is to provide a headlight which'will project a brilliant beam far down the road for fast driving and another beam for driving in trafiic toward the side of the road away from the eyes of approaching drivers while atthe same time sutficient light is thrown upon the road near the car to provide adequate illumination.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a headlight which is particularly adapted to driving in rain or mist and which has a depressible beam which will not produe a glare in the eyes of an approaching driver due to reflection from the wet pavement, but which while the depressed beam is used still produces adequate illumination upon the road to enable the driver to clearly see the same. h

Other'objects of the invention and objects relating to methods and economies of manufacture will be apparent as the description '14 and 15 which headlight taken on a line substantially through the center thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation of the.

. 5 is a sectional view taken similarly to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of bulb construction.

The invention is shown in connection with the headlight shown and described in my application, Serial No. 203,948, filed July 7th, 1927, and my application, Serial No. 203,950, filed July 7th, 1927, in which a casing .10 is adapted to support a relatively long focal length reflector 11 which has at its center a socket 12 for supporting the light bulb 13. The light bulb 13 has a plurality of filaments are adapted to be energized separately by means of suitable connections passing through the socket 12 and not shown in the drawings. As fully explained in my copending applications above referred to, the position of the filaments with respect to the focal length of the reflector may be varied slightly without causing an appreciable varition of a sphere and supported in front of the light bulb 13 by a strip 17 attached near its mid point to the supplementary reflector 16 and having tongues 18 adapted to be m serted into slots in the main reflector 11 atpomts adjacent the periphery thereof. The reflector 16 intercepts all of the .forward direct rays emitted from the filaments and redirects these rays backointo the main reflector 11 from which they are projected asan entirely separate beam adjacent to the main made to light up both sides toned down by Also in the above entitled applications, the

use of a lens 1 9 in combination with the reflector and bulb is shown to produce a deslrable result, makin possible the use therefor,

lens may be held in place m ofa standard two lament bulb in a headlight having a fixed socket, irrespective of tolerances in the manufacture of. the bulb. This.

the casing in the usual manner and comprises a pair of flat surfaces 20 and 21, an upper prism 22, a lower prism 23 and a pair of central prisms 24 and arranged inthe shape of a trapezoid as is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The

flat surfaces 20 and 21 of the lens are adapted through without rection.

=' downwardly, so that they tern of the desired width. The flutes at the back of the upper prisms to permit the light rays to project there-- This forms the intense part of the beam. The prisms 22, 23, 24 and 25 are adapted to bend the rays passing therethrough take a position in the beam of light below the intense portion. The prisms 24 and 25 are placed at that position in the lens where rays are most affected by variations of the filament with respect to and this is also true the axis of the reflector, with the prisms 22 and 23, while the flat ortions 20. and 21 .project rays which are east vertically affected by variations in the position of the' filaments with respect to the ocal oint of the reflector. The back or inside surace of the reflector is preferably covered with a series of flutes 26 which are formed with a radius, such that the light passing through the lens will be spread to form a pat- 22 may be formed with the smallest radius, thereby. spreading the light to a large extent while the flutes at the back of the-prism 23 may have a longer radius, and those at the back of prisms' 24 and 25 and the flat portions 20 and 21 may have a still longer radius.

The -above constltutes the invention described and claimed in the applications above referred to, and the present invention contemplates so positioning the bulb that the depressed beam projected by the upper ment is directed toward'the. side of the road. This is accomplished by fixing the socket 12 in'the reflector, so that the upper filament 15 comes slightly to the right of the vertical plane-through the axis A of the reflector as seen from a point facing the headlight. This eing bent in a vertical dimuch as that portion of the road directly in front of the car and slightly to the left, will be lighted with a diffused reddish glow so that objects there, may be clearly distinguished. I have found it preferable to locate the lower filament 14 substantially on the vertical plane so that the light projected for the drivingbeam will be projected straight down the road and not toward the left. This may be accomplished by slightly displacing the bulb with respect to the reflector so that the axis B of the bulb comes slightly to the left 'of the axial vertical plane A of the reflector as seen from the rear of the headlight, or it may be accomplished by providing abulb in which the upper filament is slightly displaced with respect to the axis of the bulb and the arrangement of the positioning pins in the Base thereof. I

Such a specially constructed bulb is indicated in Fig. 5 wherein a lower filament 14a is provided slightly below the horizontal axis of the bulb and'centered upon the vertical axis thereof, while the upper filament 15a is positioned slightly above the horizontal axis of the bulb and to the left of the vertical axis as viewed fromthe base of the'bulb as .the section in Fig. 5 is taken. With this construction, the axis B of the bulb will lie in the vertical axial plane A of the reflector.

It is evident that upon rotating a standard bulb in the reflector, as indicated in Fi s. 1 to 4 inclusive, both upper, and lower fi aments will be inclined at a slight angle to the horizontal, thus, the beams produced by these filamentswill form patterns ofv lightwhich are tilted with respect to the horizontal. While this tilting of the beam is not noticeable for slight rotations of the bulb with respect to the reflector, if it is desired to throw the depressed beam to the side of the road at a considerable angle, the angular patch of light upon the road especially for the driving beam, may be found objectionable. In this case, the construction shown in Fig. 5 may be used audit will be noted that inasmuch as both filaments are horizontal, there will be no distortion of the beam produced by the lower filament.

"In using a depressible beam headlight, from which thelower beam is projected down upon the road, at merely a vertical angle from the driving beam, it has been found that when driving in wet weather, the depressed beam reflecting upon the wet pavement of the road, produces a very objectionable and, extremely dangerous glare directly into the eyes of drivers of approaching cars. The present invention entirely eliminates this objectionable glare, as the depressed beam strikes the road at an angle longitudinally thereof and the reflected light is directed at the same angle toward the side of the road. The light, however, from the auxiliary reflector is thrown, as has been stated, more nearly toward the center of the road, but inasmuch as this light has a reddish tint, it will not reflect to any great extent from the wet pavement, but

has a tendency to be absorbed, thereby causing little or no, reflection and no glare in the eyes of an approaching driver.

The reddish tint of the light produced by the auxiliary reflector in both the driving and a depressed beams, makes the light particularly adapted to penetrate rain, fog or other particles which may be suspended in the air so that the headlight incorporating this invention will provide much greater illumination under adverse weather conditions.

While I have shown the inventionin connection with the headlight shown in the two above mentioned applications, it is of course possible to use the invention with any type of headlight. However, I have found that the construction as shown having a reflector, the focal-length of which is not less. than ten and one-half, nor more than fifteen times the distance between the filaments, and a compensating lens, provides a much better light, freer from holes for both of the beams than does a headlight, using an ordinary reflector and lens.

While I have shown the filaments positioned above and below the axis of-the reflector, the invention is not to be limited to such a placement of the filament, as good results may be obtained with the lower filament at the focal point of the reflector or even slightly above the same.

Only in so far as the invention is particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a vehicle lamp, the comm'nation of a parallelizing reflector of long focal length; said reflector having its major reflecting surface located in rear of its focal plane and its forward edge terminating in front of its focal plane, a light bulb having two concen-,

trated separately energizable filaments located substantially in the focal plane of the of the central zone having prisms thereon to deflect light downwardly.

2. In a vehicle lamp, the combination of a parallelizing reflector of long focal length; said reflector aving its major reflecting surface located in rear of its focal plane and its forward edge terminating in front of its focal plane, a light bulb having two concentrated separately energizable filaments located substantially in the focal plane of the reflector; means to support the bulb in fixed and nonadjustable relation to the reflector; the lower filament being placed horizontally adjacent the focus and the upper filament being placed substantially horizontally above the axis of 1 the reflector and laterally offset in, relation thereto, and means trrdeflect downwardly the rays issuing from the upper and lower zones cated substantially in the focal plane of the reflector; means to support the bulb in fixed and non-adjustable relation to the reflector;

the lower filament being placed horizontally adjacent the focus and the upper filament beingplaced substantially horizontally above the axis of the reflector and laterally offset in relation thereto, a concave supplementary reflector positioned in front of said filaments and having its concave surface opposed with respect to'the concave surface of the parallelizing reflector, said supplementary reflector having a different color from that of the parallelizing reflector, and means to deflect ownwardly the ra s issuing from the upper and lower zones '0 the parallelizing reflector and the rays issuing from a portion ofthe central zone of the parallelizing reflector above and below the bulb.

4. A headlight construction comprising a substantially parallelizing reflector having its major portion located behind the focal plane and having a focal length of substantially one and three-fourths inches, a pair of filaments positioned in a vertical plane adjacent the focal planeof the reflector, said filaments being spaced apart approximately nine sixty-fourths of an inch and each lying sub stantially in a horizontal plane one above the other, the lower filament being placed adjacent the focal point of the reflector and the upper filament being offset with respect to a p ane passing vertically through the axis of the reflector, a supplementary reflector mounted in front of said filaments having a different color from that of the reflector, said supplementary reflector being concave and having its concave surface opposed to that of the main reflector.

5. A- headlight construction comprising a substantially parallelizing reflector having its major portion located behind the focal plane and having a focal length of substantially one and three-fourths inches, a pair of filaments positioned adjacent the focal point of the reflector, said filaments each lying in a horizontal plane which planes are spaced apart approximately nine sixty-fourths of an inch, the upper of said filaments being ofiset with respect to a vertical plane passing through the center of the lower filament, a concave supplementary reflector positioned in front of said filaments and having its concave surface opposed with respect to the concave surface of the parallelizing reflector, said supplementary reflector having a different color from that of the parallelizing reflector, and a compensating lens mounted in front of said filaments and supplementary reflector, said lens having transverse central upper and lower zones, the upper and lower zones having prisms thereon to deflect light downwardly, said lens having a transverse central zone, the side portions of which allow light to pass therethrough without deflection to cast an intense beam of light from the reflector in a substantially horizontal direction.

6. A headlight construction comprising a substantially parallelizing reflectorshaving its major portion' located behind the focal plane and having a focal length of substan tially one and three-fourths inches, a pair of filaments positioned adjacent the focal point of the reflector, said filaments each lying in a horizontal plane which planes are spaced apart approximately nine sixty-fourths of an inch, the upper .of said filaments being offset with respect to a vertical plane passing 7 through the center of the lower filament, a

' concave supplementary reflector positioned in front of said filaments and having its concave surface opposed with respect to the concave surface of the paralleli-zing reflector, said supplementary reflector having a different color from that of the parallelizing reflector, and a compensating lens mounted in front of said filaments and supplementary reflector, said lens having transverse central upper and lower zones, the upper and lower zones having prisms thereon to deflect light downwardly, said lens having a transverse central zone, the side portions of which allow light to pass therethrough without deflection to cast an intense beam of light from the reflector in a substantially horizontal direction, said central transverse zone having a prism thereon for deflecting light rays downwardly.

In testimonsy whereof I aflix my signature.-

AMUEL F. ARBUCKLE; 

